Gardening, Nature & Weather–slightly skewed

This is one of my favorite “Spoiler” stories and I think it illustrates how much work I had to do–and occasionally still have to do–to keep him organic!

When he first brought me over to show me the house (because as I am fond of saying, I married the house, gardens & pond), I was astounded at how clear the water in the pond was. I could have read the date on a penny at the bottom.

Mind you, these days, that’s not so remarkable, but this was 21 years ago and this pond has–or had–no filter! Or fish, or plants, or any living thing in evidence, except the bulbs planted in the two beds flanking it.

So once I managed to shut my gaping mouth I asked him how he managed to keep the water so crystal clear. His response was priceless, “Oh that’s easy,” he said. “Pool chemicals.”

Needless to say, the pool chemicals have been recycled at our household hazardous waste disposal day, and as I said in Monday’s post, we now have frogs–as well as fish that breed in the pond–and plants living in the pond.

The pond is the easiest “garden” I have in fact. Because it is so old and I don’t have the ability to run it like one of the newer ponds, we do have a bit more algae build up, particularly in the early spring (like now) before I do the yearly clean out.

But that’s about the only maintenance that I do. Once a year, I drain the pond (after carefully re-locating my fish to a holding bucket. The frog makes itself scarce and then returns when I finish). I lightly scrub the sides, refill with fresh water and de-chlorinator, put the fish and the plants back and enjoy the rest of the summer. What could be easier?

And there’s nothing like the sound of running water to make you feel cool on a hot day!